Crazy Holi Celebrations in Goa with Video!

How many mornings start out with you opening your front door to a bucket of blue water in your face? Followed by a sneak attack bucket poured from the balcony… It happens every year in Goa and this was my first year to celebrate.

I have a video of our day at the bottom that I just LOVE!

After my water attack. Yes, as Ben kept reminding me, I do look like a 12 year old boy. I had to borrow his shorts because I didn’t want to ruin mine!

The springtime festival Holi, also called the festival of colors or festival of love, is most Indians favorite time of the year whether Hindu or not. The festival signifies good beating evil and a time for forgive and forget. 9/10 Hindus I asked had no clue why Holi got started- but wiki tells me Holi is about being devoted to Vishnu and his triumph over his evil aunt (Holika).

The color is because Krishna was born cursed with blue skin, which he was quite insecure about. His mother had him approach a girl, Radha, and color her face so they could become a couple.

What is Holi Like?

Kids and adults alike run around all day chasing and “playing holi” with buckets of water and fistfuls of colorful powder. You might get it thrown straight into your mouth and eyes or you might get it gently wiped on your cheeks- it’s all fair game! The water is sometimes died with powder. We had bucket upon buckets of water thrown into our car as we drove around with the windows down.

I can’t imagine this holiday going over so well in America.

Everyone is in high spirits and most people are the street are playing, not watching. You can throw paint on a 100 year old woman if you want to, no disrespect there! You can take a random baby and spin them around; people will laugh! People run around with squirt guns and drive around (like we need) sneaking up on people.

People will play music from big speakers at parties set up along the street. Holi is a time when bhang (a form of cannabis) is encouraged and not an arrest-able offense. Many Most people are drunk.

Some men will use this as a time to grope women. Gross, but true, as one guy tried and failed with me! You can see Ben push him off in the video, so he goes for Ben instead. It’s such a happy environment it leaves the girl wondering if she should get mad or just pretend it didn’t happen- which is exactly why the men choose Holi to do this. Bummer. The other environmental negative is some villages lose days worth of their water supply.

Goa Holi Video (make sure to watch in HD)

It was a chaotic day! You’ll see a party in Mapusa, the villages of Parra, and a restaurant in Assagao. This was my first GoPro attempt and I loved filming! Hopefully will get better at editing on the next one. Also, after you watch it my other youtube video might play (a ladyboy crew singing Moulin Rouge). I tried to change it, but really- you’re lucky I could even figure out how to use iMovie and get this video up! Baby steps…

Practical Tips:

Holi paint will eventually come out of your skin and dark hair. It came out of some of our clothes but not all, so wear something old. If you wear nail polish you can prevent your nails from staining. As of yet it has not come out of the lightest parts of my hair. I should have put coconut oil on before but didn’t realize how badly it stained. I shall have purple tips on my hair until I cut it off! The paint is not up to the same standards as the west (like you would get at color run) and the chemicals can harm animals so don’t put it on them.

Things I tried to get the color out of my hair (that didn’t work): coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, oil based shampoo. The internet lied to me about all of those. It’s worse on colored or damaged/dry hair.

Happy Holi!

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Rachel Jones left a career in nursing to live on the beaches on Goa, India over three years ago where she is now a travel writer. Her website gives advice on the 35+ countries she's been to but has become the go-to site on India travel, focusing on off beat places & “glamorous travel”. Hippie in Heels has been featured in ELLE magazine & was voted by Flipkey as one of the top 25 female bloggers to follow this year. She's a writer for BravoTV.

Gorgeous post and the vid is fab :)
I miss Goa so much, might have to take a trip back next year sadly I can’t afford it this year! Glad you have a fab first experience of Holi but gutted at the hair situation that could put a bit of a dampner on the whole affair!
You also educated me as I did not know why they had Holi and I loved the story of Krishna.
xEm recently posted…Weekly Wishes #1

Yeah the hair thing was a little bit of a damper the next day. now almost 2 weeks later, still pink hair. wouldn’t be a prob except all the lighter bits got died, and all the darker bits didn’t- so my hair doesn’t look blonde anymore :(

Holi, holi! That’s one of my favourite festivals on this planet. It’s so much fun and these colors…!!! Magnificent! I added it to my bucket list ages ago and simply can’t wait to make it to India to participate!Agness recently posted…A Beginner’s Guide To The Singapore Hawker Center

Loved your video! How do you like the GoPro? I’m thinking about getting one for our travel gear, but haven’t made the plunge yet. I know my hair would stain too… but it seems like it was worth it!Katie recently posted…My love letter to Bangkok

That looks insane. I have been to the Holi festival in Nepal, but it seemed a bit more relaxed there. The locals all put colour on my face very gently. There wasn’t the same amount of powder masses thrown around, but it was still very good fun.tammyonthemove recently posted…Oruro carnival – Fun, Frivolity, and lots of Foam Fights

Holi looks like so much fun!!! I joined in on the Holi celebrations this year with our local Indian community (in Christchurch, New Zealand) and it was the best day – I can only imagine how much fun it would be in India itself! I spent a couple of months in India last year, and am hoping to return for longer, perhaps next year – would love to live there longer-term like you do! Celebrating Holi in India is most definitely on my bucket list!

[…] Play at Holi! (Friday March 6, 2015 is the next one). It’s fun to throw paint powder and buckets of water on strangers. Don’t have a private party but instead find a village and play with the locals. Have you seen my holi video? It’s in the link. […]

Hey I love ur blog so helpful to prepare me for my travels. I am going to be in India for holi and have heard of this festival called holi cow which we are thinking of going to in dehli. Have u been before.

Was in India last week for Holi….my hair is stained an ugly faded pink! I just went to my stylist here in Chiang Mai and we are going to have to do a process to remove the stain $125 and then my highlights $100 hope it comes out!Hannah @Getting Stamped recently posted…Is Street Food Safe? – A Guide to Survive Street Food